The future’s an Asian female

Overall I had a good week at work. It really feels like we’re making progress. I’m on the verge of my third major signing in the space of two weeks. I think we’ve got an increasingly powerful story and it seems to be resonating with people – I am managing to get the team I want. I’m excited about getting all of these rock stars in front of our internal and external clients. That’s all positive, and having the right team in place will allow me to spend more time on our most intractable challenges, which includes working with the team in Spain who face the biggest obstacles.

All of that said, I can’t help but think that if I take a couple of steps back and look to my side or behind me, then there is another huge big hamster ball rolling my way full of Asians and women. These two articles from last week’s Economist only served to remind me of this… http://www.economist.com/node/21562195 and http://www.economist.com/node/21562174 Is the west finished? No, because in a globalized world place matters more than ever (http://www.economist.com/node/21561109), but I can’t help but think that by the time I retire, if I haven’t moved from where I am now, then I and the kids definitely won’t be working in the region of the world that is driving global growth; when Sandie says to me we can’t ask the house cleaner to wash the patio windows because that isn’t in her job description, then I can’t help but think of the people in India who would fight to work to earn that additional income...Are men finished? Absolutely not for lots of reasons including the fact that it isn’t us who bear children, but I do agree with the idea that the skills required to be successful today include adaptability and communication, (which surely must include the ability to speak multiple languages), which women generally tend to be better at than men. Work is going well and I am enjoying it, life in the south of France is extremely pleasant and comfortable; I will however keep my head down for a little bit longer otherwise one might be faced with some much more difficult questions with answers with big consequences.